There's been a bit of a wait for UK owners of Google phones (initially T-Mobile's G1 but soon enough Vodafone's G2 as well) to get their hands on the paid part of the Android Market.

Finally - on the 12th March 2009 - it went live, allowing us to impulse buy the apps we've forgotten we've already got on our iPod touches...

This is how we did it.

Step-by-step guide to the paid Android Market

Step 1: Onto the Market

First things first. To get onto the Android Market, just tap the little green Market icon on your phone, which will take you to this home page, which shows some featured apps and the section categories.

Step 2: Choose your app

We've now gone into the Applications and then the Entertainment sections to find the Halo 3 Timer; cost of £0.69. iHeartChuck seems so over priced...

Step 3: The buying decision

Now we've tapped on the app to check its details, plus its popularity and any feedback users have provided, and decide if we really want to spend our cash on a respawn weapon timer. We do - hit the Buy button.

Step 4: Google Checkout

The billing mechanism for Android Market, unsurprisingly, is Google Checkout, which requires a credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex etc). The first time you use it, you have to fill in details such as card number, expiration date, your name and address etc.

Step 5: Terms and conditions

Of course, once that's done - and it takes some seconds and a couple of refreshes to authorise - you have to click through the terms and conditions.

Step 6: Buy now

Now we can see how much we're going to spend. This is the button of no return.

Step 7: Download

Once we've hit the Buy Now button, the application will start to download. You can move off this screen, as the download will happen in the background, or you can go into the My Downloads section of the Android Market to watch the bar fill.

Step 8: Installed

And there is the very useful Halo 3 Timer installed and ready to go.

Step 9: Buy again

Neatly, you only have to fill in your details into Google Checkout once, so if I then decide to drop $4.99 on Retro Defense, I go immediately into the Buy Now option without any Checkout details required.

Note that because this app is priced in dollars, I get an approximate cost in my local currency. The exact currency conversion rate will be handled by my credit card company, however.

For this reason, the receipt you're emailed for each transaction lists the price you paid in the currency defined by the developer or publisher, which in this case was $4.99.

Step 10: Download, install again

Hit the Buy Now button and we're back watching the download bar fiiling. Note, however, we can see all the apps we've downloaded in the My Downloads section, as well as if they have been installed. We can also uninstall them by tapping on them and following the prompts.